- Insure the respectful treatment of the deceased and the family.
- Preserve the area in its natural state.
- Follow the tenets of green burial practices along with a sustainable forestry policy.
Cedar Brook Burial Ground is open year round.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Cedar Brook Burial Ground, Inc. Mission Statement
Cedar Brook Burial Ground is open year round.
Planning a funeral - others . . . or yours
Where does one start? What questions need to be answered? These books will help start the conversation and answer many of your questions.
From the authors of Grave Expectations, Carmen Flowers and Sue Bailey:
"Life is such a rich, complicated, joyous, mysterious wild ride. Everyone has stories to tell and lessons to pass on, and what better way to do that than when you're alive? It was your life; your funeral is the one time you can do and say absolutely whatever you want.
As of this writing, there is no alternative to dying. Since there's no getting out of it, why not go ahead and plan your fantasy going "away" party?"
Carmen Flowers and Sue Bailey will be the guest speakers at the Annual Meeting on 10/31/2009 of the Consumers Funeral Alliance of Maine at The Highlands in Topsham, Maine. The meeting is open to the public at a cost of $10/person.
There will be an outstanding panel of people who have done home funerals and natural burials. They will share their stories and answer questions. Resources available include information about Maine's two natural cemeteries and Chuck Lakin's display of his alternative wood caskets. Peter McHugh of Cedar Brook Burial Ground will be available to answer questions.
Grave Matters by Mark Harris is also an excellent source of information.
"Whatever Happened to ‘Dust to Dust’?
You Can Still Find It in Green Burial.
By the time Nate Fisher was laid to rest in a woodland grave sans coffin in the final season of Six Feet Under, Americans all across the country were starting to look outside the box when death came calling.
Grave Matters follows a dozen such families who found in “green” burial a more natural, more economic and ultimately more meaningful alternative to the tired and toxic send-off on offer at the local funeral parlor."
From the authors of Grave Expectations, Carmen Flowers and Sue Bailey:
"Life is such a rich, complicated, joyous, mysterious wild ride. Everyone has stories to tell and lessons to pass on, and what better way to do that than when you're alive? It was your life; your funeral is the one time you can do and say absolutely whatever you want.
As of this writing, there is no alternative to dying. Since there's no getting out of it, why not go ahead and plan your fantasy going "away" party?"
Carmen Flowers and Sue Bailey will be the guest speakers at the Annual Meeting on 10/31/2009 of the Consumers Funeral Alliance of Maine at The Highlands in Topsham, Maine. The meeting is open to the public at a cost of $10/person.
There will be an outstanding panel of people who have done home funerals and natural burials. They will share their stories and answer questions. Resources available include information about Maine's two natural cemeteries and Chuck Lakin's display of his alternative wood caskets. Peter McHugh of Cedar Brook Burial Ground will be available to answer questions.
Grave Matters by Mark Harris is also an excellent source of information.
"Whatever Happened to ‘Dust to Dust’?
You Can Still Find It in Green Burial.
By the time Nate Fisher was laid to rest in a woodland grave sans coffin in the final season of Six Feet Under, Americans all across the country were starting to look outside the box when death came calling.
Grave Matters follows a dozen such families who found in “green” burial a more natural, more economic and ultimately more meaningful alternative to the tired and toxic send-off on offer at the local funeral parlor."
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Articles & interviews on green burial
Green Burial Movement Spreads to the Southwest
A green burial site is planned for this area in the Galisteo Basin Preserve near Santa Fe, N.M. Unlike conventional cemeteries, the landscape will not change after bodies are buried here.
Burials and Cemeteries Go Green
Ginny Boll loves life. The 78-year-old former nun operates a dog-grooming business in Wisconsin in a small shed near her home on her woodland property. When she dies, Boll says she wants her friends to hold a party to celebrate her life and then to bury her simply.
Land owner Calls On Death To Save Her FarJoan Graham, 80, owns a horse farm in the small town of Metamora, north of Detroit.
"I just like the earth," she said. "I like the smell of it, and I like green, and I like trees."
Monday, November 16, 2009
New England Green Burial Society
"New England Green Burial Society offers resources, guidance, coordination and direction for those interested in green burial."
Click here for more information about the New England Green Burial Society
Monday, August 31, 2009
DOWN TO EARTH
Green cemeteries take a final step back to nature
By JOHN RICHARDSON, Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald - July 19, 2008
By JOHN RICHARDSON, Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald - July 19, 2008
After a lifetime of recycling, composting, turning down the thermostat and trying to eat local organic food, some people might not want to leave their bodies to be filled with a chemical preservative and buried in steel and concrete, or even cremated in a gas-fired furnace.
Now they have a couple more options.
Maine's two green cemeteries -- natural burial grounds that don't allow embalming or steel caskets -- are open for business. And they're getting some.
For the rest of the storySunday, July 5, 2009
Entering Cedar Brook Burial Grounds
Vistors are welcome to tour the grounds.
For a tour of the grounds or a brochure, call Peter McHugh at 207.637.2085, email at a.green.cemetery@gmail.com or request information by mail: Cedar Brook Burial Ground, 175 Boothby Rd, Limington, ME 04049-3019
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Global warming, going green
Natural Burial Grounds Becoming Popular
LIMINGTON (NEWS CENTER) -- With all the talk about global warming, going green has become a way of life for many of us. Now, people in Maine can even go "out" green -- and spend eternity in a natural resting place.
For complete article & video interview with Peter McHugh
LIMINGTON (NEWS CENTER) -- With all the talk about global warming, going green has become a way of life for many of us. Now, people in Maine can even go "out" green -- and spend eternity in a natural resting place.
For complete article & video interview with Peter McHugh
Monday, June 29, 2009
Work continues at the Joshua Small Cemetery
The wonderful fieldstone wall surrounding the cemetery is being repaired. Some of the stones have, over time, dropped from the wall and are being carefully fitted back in place. There is ongoing maintenance to the grounds within and around the cemtery.
The cemetery is available to visitors to Cedar Brook Burial Ground.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
An ongoing discussion
One of our readers, Edie Thomas, sent this thoughtful response to comments made by Thomas Friese.
I happened to come across a comment from Thomas Friese on your website regarding an article on March 8th called Crossings: Caring for our own at death. The comment was not too inappropriate, however, there are some comments that he made that I do not agree with and feel should not be on your site.
One comment is regarding land consumption and that green burials utilize too much valuable land space. He also discusses at length his issue with not marking the burial sites with any type of marker. He then states that determining a resolution to the land use and marker issue is something that needs to be addressed promptly. He includes his website address, which is to a website where you have to put in your personal information before you can even see any of his resolutions to the issues he brings up.
I understand his concern with these issues, but how he states that environmentalists are addressing the lands needs before the individual is a little critical and unnecessary. My opinion has always been that with the rate of growth we are seeing, there will be no green space left except graveyards and golf courses. With green burials, the graveyard has created a new image where people will want to go, and you do not necessarily have to go a "marker" that "belongs" to your family member. Just being in a natural setting will remind you of what your family member felt was important and help bring you closer to their memory.
I understand that some individuals will have a difficult time coming to terms with a newer way of thinking in regards to burial traditions. I also understand that green burials will grow and evolve with future needs. I don't understand how green burials that create open space are any different in terms of land use then graveyards with granite markers. Is he proposing that we utilize some form of the Tibetan sky burial for our future burial needs?
. . . I was mostly upset with the fact that he put (in) his website (address) and then when you look it up, you cannot find any information that he wants to discuss until you sign up. I actually did sign up and I still have not gotten my password sent to me. I understand that I should probably be directing my frustration at him. I just wanted to make you aware of his comments.
Sincerely,
Edie Thomas
Thank you, Ms. Thomas for granting permission to post your comments.
I happened to come across a comment from Thomas Friese on your website regarding an article on March 8th called Crossings: Caring for our own at death. The comment was not too inappropriate, however, there are some comments that he made that I do not agree with and feel should not be on your site.
One comment is regarding land consumption and that green burials utilize too much valuable land space. He also discusses at length his issue with not marking the burial sites with any type of marker. He then states that determining a resolution to the land use and marker issue is something that needs to be addressed promptly. He includes his website address, which is to a website where you have to put in your personal information before you can even see any of his resolutions to the issues he brings up.
I understand his concern with these issues, but how he states that environmentalists are addressing the lands needs before the individual is a little critical and unnecessary. My opinion has always been that with the rate of growth we are seeing, there will be no green space left except graveyards and golf courses. With green burials, the graveyard has created a new image where people will want to go, and you do not necessarily have to go a "marker" that "belongs" to your family member. Just being in a natural setting will remind you of what your family member felt was important and help bring you closer to their memory.
I understand that some individuals will have a difficult time coming to terms with a newer way of thinking in regards to burial traditions. I also understand that green burials will grow and evolve with future needs. I don't understand how green burials that create open space are any different in terms of land use then graveyards with granite markers. Is he proposing that we utilize some form of the Tibetan sky burial for our future burial needs?
. . . I was mostly upset with the fact that he put (in) his website (address) and then when you look it up, you cannot find any information that he wants to discuss until you sign up. I actually did sign up and I still have not gotten my password sent to me. I understand that I should probably be directing my frustration at him. I just wanted to make you aware of his comments.
Sincerely,
Edie Thomas
Thank you, Ms. Thomas for granting permission to post your comments.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Remaining Eco-Friendly, Even After Death
By Ann-Elise Henzl
April 22, 2009 | WUWM | Milwaukee, WI
"Green burial is essentially the way most of humanity has cared for its dead for thousands of years."
Joe Sehee started and heads the Green Burial Council, a national group that promotes the practice.
"Returning to the earth simply, without a metal casket, without a concrete burial vault, without formaldehyde-based embalming. It's just ashes-to-ashes, dust-to-dust burial," Sehee says.
April 22, 2009 | WUWM | Milwaukee, WI
"Green burial is essentially the way most of humanity has cared for its dead for thousands of years."
Joe Sehee started and heads the Green Burial Council, a national group that promotes the practice.
"Returning to the earth simply, without a metal casket, without a concrete burial vault, without formaldehyde-based embalming. It's just ashes-to-ashes, dust-to-dust burial," Sehee says.
Click here for complete article, then click on 'enter site', top right
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